Heinricii ostermann and charles lacroix



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HEINRICH OSTERMANN AND CHARLES LACROIX, or GENEVA, s'wrr'znn Q LAND, ASSIGNORS rro mm U'SINE 'cnNEvors on nne'RossIssAeE DQR, OF SAME PLAGE.

METHOD OF REN DERING NICKEL AND NICKEL ALLOYS NON-MAGNETIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,220, dated May 28, 1889.

Application filed December 20, 1888.

dering nickel and the nickel alloys-non-magneticthat is to say, rendered indifferent to the magnetic influences and at the same time said nickel or, nickel alloyages become suitable to replace iron orsteel, especially with regard to their degree of dilatation and to their speci lie gravity and malleability. This is of a great importance, for instance, in m anufacturing watches, and especially compensation balance-wheels and spiral springs for watches. y

Nickel can be alloyed with copper, silver, lead, tin, zinc, aluminium, cadmium, Wolfram, gold, platinum, and metals of the platinum series (palladiu'm,-rhodium, and iridium,) or with alloys of two or more of those metals. If one alloying metal is oflitt-le dilatation-as, for instance, gold, platinum, and metals of the platinum series with nickel- -the resulting alloys will be magnetizable; but they may be made indilferent to the magnetic influences by addition of copper, silver, lead, tin, zinc, aluminium, or of combinations of those metals. The alloys produced will answer the purpose specified above with regard to the degree of dilatation and malleability, but not at all wit-h regard to the specific gravity, which will be different from the specific gravity of iron or steel.

Alloys of copper,'sil\"er, lead, 'tin, alumini um,'zinc, and cadmium may be made to possess the same specific gravity as iron; but their coefficient of dilatation is much greater than that of iron. Alloys of Wolfram, gold, platinum, and the metals of the platinum series may have approximately the same coefiicient of dilatationas iron and steel; but their specific gravity is very much greater than the specific gravity of iron or steel. If thoscmetals are alloyed the one with the other, the lin- Serial No. 294,219. (No specimens.)

or with ihiri y to forty per cent. platinum, palladium, or rhodium, would have approximately the same coeflicient of linear dilatation and the same specific gravity as iron or steel; but as those alloys, except those of ally influenced by magnetic influences than. pure nickel, one should be obliged to combine them with a larger quantity of metals having stance, copper,silver, zinc, &c.,).as' it would be the case of pure nickel in View of having the resulting alloy not magnetizable. The nickel begins to grow non-magnetizable by an addition of twenty per cent. copper, twenty per cent. zinc, or twenty per cent. silver, or ten per cent.- tin, or thirty per cent. lead, or five per cent. aluminium. To render alloys of nickel and gold, nickel andplatinum, nickel and palladium or rhodium, nickel and manganese, or alloys of nickel with combinations of those metals,

therefore be obli, :fed to add a largezquantity of metals having a high coefii'cient of dilatation, and the resulting alloy would have a higher coefficient of dilatation than iron or steel. sible to obtain with the help of the above-specified 1r etals an un magnetizable alloy the main part of which would be nickel. Now, our proceeding consists of rendering pure nickel or combination of nickel with gold, with platinum, or with metals of the platinum series, or with manganese, very easily and durably unmagn etizable by melting or alloying the same with chrmnium.

of the alloy, but lowers the same a little, and the alloys obtained by this way are completely suitable .to replace iron or steel. 'S'uch alloys with ten to twenty per cent. gold or Wolfram, I

a high coeflicient of dilatation,'(as, for inunmagnetizable, one would It appears, therefore,that it is not pos- (.hromium does not increase the-linear dilatation nor the specific gravity 95 car dilatation of the alloy will be exactly pro- 5o nickel and Wolfram, would be more energeticof chromium with little additions of gold,

0.20 per cent. zine. Nickelbegins to grow unmagnetizable by an addition of three per cent. chromium, and is completely nnmagnetizable by an alloy of ten per cent, It is possible to alloy up to thirty per cent. chromium with nickel; but such analloy would be too hard and diflicult to work. An addition of ten per cent. chromium to a magnetizable alloy of nickel-and gold, platinum, or metals of .the platinum series, makes the same, as well as,

pure nickel, unmagn-etizable. If those alloys contain copper, silver, zinc, tin, or lead, it will f be suflicient to add smaller. quantities of chrc mium. The melting and alloying of nickel and c romium are easily obtained by throwing first pure chromium, or chromium with a small addition of borax, into the crucible and over it the corresponding quantityof nickel,

and eventually of the other metals, as above .Imagnetizable.

hard.

specified. 'lhen the crucible is placed intoa blast-furnace until the melting is obtained. If other metals are to be added to the alloy of nickel and-chromium, it may be preferable to melt first only nickel and chromium and to add the other metals when those two metals are alloyed with one another. If the nickel contains too large quantities of iron or cobalt, a larger quantity of chromium will be necessary to be combined with it to render it un- Such alloys will then be too Having thus fully described our invention, we claim- The method herein specified of rendering 45 nickel and its alloys non-magnetizable and suitable for usein place of iron and steel in watches, consisting in melting chromium with such nickel in the proportion of less than set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HEINRICH OSTERMANN. CHARLES LACROIX.

Witnesses:

E. IM'ER SCHNEID R, LY'ELL T. ADAMQ.

thirty per cent. of chromium, substantially as 50 

